The Regrets of Staying Apart
by Izzyv1o
Summary: Growing up can be painful. Especially when it means leaving the one you love behind. PeterxWendy futurefic oneshot based on 2003 movie - sorry about the wrong category


**A/N:This seriously took me forever to get typed up and posted. I think I had this written before I went on vacation back in August... I think it never got typed because I don't have much time to do anything remotely fun. What with school and swim team (which has something going on for at least 2 hours every day but Sunday), I hardly have time to read any books, let alone type anything up. Sorry for taking so long to upload anything, too. Please read and review - standard policy applies. Constructive criticism is welcomed with open arms, but flames will be doused with a bucket of water.**

**Disclaimer: It's not mine. :( The rights and junk belong to the people who created it. sigh**

The Regrets of Staying Apart

"_Peter!" Wendy cried, running up to the open window. The boy who was currently flying dejectedly away stopped and turned around to face her. "You won't forget me, will you?" She asked, desperate for some hope of lessening the pain of being separated from her love._

_The young boy looked her earnestly in the eyes, and said jokingly, "Me? Forget?" He paused for a moment, and then continued quite genuinely, "Never."_

_Sparkling blue meets emerald green as the two friends stare into each other's eyes, hoping for their separation to be merely a horrible dream. Finally Peter waves sadly to say goodbye before starting off once again._

_But Wendy had one last question in her head that needed answering. Frantically, she cried, "Will you come back?"_

_At this, the boy smiled a genuine smile as he answered, "To hear stories." And as she watched him begin to fly off, she heard him continue the statement, "About me!"_

_All Wendy could do was smile fondly and sadly as he flew off to return to a life without the worries of growing up._

**xo-0-ox**

"… And they all lived happily… ever… after," the brunette storyteller finished with a smile. As she looked at the joyous faces of all of her younger brothers, the fourteen-year-old Wendy Darling looked out the open nursery window, and thought she saw a familiar figure hovering outside. But then she blinked her eyes, and he was gone. Just like that.

For a moment, she wondered if it was just her overactive imagination, but somehow she knew that the boy was real. He looked just a year younger than herself, and exactly the same as when she last saw him, a little more than a year ago. But this time, she did not dash to the window in order to see weather or not he was still there, she just made a slight wave in the direction of the second star to the right.

She remembered the boy quite well, but wished she could have gotten to speak to him again. Her days got very lonely indeed when she thought of all that she did not get to do with or say to him.

Wendy thought back to about a year ago, when Aunt Millicent had said that the one that the kiss belonged to had slipped in and out of heaven. That seemed to describe Peter perfectly. He was perfect. Except for his refusal to grow up. That was the one thing Wendy wanted to change. She wanted badly for him to come home and grow up with her, so that they might even get married some day.

But her hopes had been shattered when he refused to go back and stay with her. Especially when he said, "No one can catch me and make _me_ a man!" His voice was not only defiant, but also fearful.

Remembering this brought tears to her eyes, but she hastily wiped them away as her brothers asked for another story. Some of them even, out of habit, still called her 'mother'.

This time, she decided to tell them the story of Peter Pan. As she began, the boys rapidly grew quiet, and soon, they all knew which story she was going to tell. "Once upon a time," she began, yet again seeing a familiar figure in the window for a fraction of a second, "there was a boy, who wished never to grow up…"

**xo-0-ox**

In fact, there _was_ a figure outside of the window, and he came almost every day to hear the stories Wendy loved to tell. But he did not return only for the stories; he also came to watch from a distance as the girl he loved continued to slowly grow up. He could see the little differences, day by day, and knew that one day soon, she would be all grown up.

Just the thought of such a horrible thing made tears come to the dirty-blond haired boy's emerald eyes. As he listened to the young woman tell stories about himself, Peter finally lost control, and began to cry, which caused him to fall down towards the hard ground. He hastily flew back up and onto the roof of the Darling house, if only so that he could silently cry once more without fear of falling to his death. He shed many silent tears that night, and for hours, sobs racked his frame. He did not cease his crying until Tinkerbell flew over and reminded him that he would need happy thoughts in order to get back to Neverland.

For a moment he thought about, and seriously considered, staying there with Wendy, and maybe even growing up with her, but memories of the night he heard his parents talking came flooding back, and he had to fly swiftly away in order to keep his thoughts happy.

**xo-0-ox**

Once it was time for bed, Wendy knew her night would be long and unpleasant. Thoughts of her adventures in Neverland, and especially Peter, began to fill her head once more.

She cried silently late into the night until she could take it no longer. Quietly and hastily, Wendy snuck out of her bed, and over to the window. She opened it as quietly as she could before sticking her head outside.

She knew that if he did not want to be found, no one could find him, but she hoped that maybe, just for her, he would come into view. As she looked about outside, she called out softly, "Peter! Peter, are you there?"

She thought she saw some movement outside, but no one answered her cries. So, keeping what little hope she still had, Wendy decided to call again, but a little louder this time, "Peter, are you there? _Please_, answer me!!"

Finally, she saw a familiar fairy come darting over. Wendy recognized her as Tink the right away, and even figured out what the angry tone and body language probably meant. She just meekly nodded her head, and closed the window. As she was walking back dejectedly to her bed, Wendy thought of the message Tinkerbell had so clearly given: "Stay away from Peter, you have already hurt him enough for one lifetime!" And she even understood her parting message: "If you try to hurt him again, I'll kill you!"

As Wendy attempted to reach the land of sleep once more, she thought of everything that could have been, and began to dream of it all, for she knew that such things only happen in dreams.

**_end_**


End file.
